The Silicon Valley of North Carolina. That’s how Durham City Manager Tom Bonfield feels about the Bull City, a place he has called home for almost exactly five years.

Bonfield gave us a candid look at his thought process this week in an exclusive chat, focusing on three challenges he says Durham needs to address in order to thrive as an entrepreneurship capital.

1. Funding

2. Space

3. Housing

Funding

“It’s no surprise,” Bonfield says, that venture capitalists don’t always pinpoint Durham on a map. It needs to change, he adds, although he admits he doesn’t “have all the answers.”

Part of the problem is branding, he says, although he notes there is some forward momentum in generating buzz about the city. “We need to keep the buzz buzzing.”

Space

“One of the challenges we have right now is we’ve got some terrific incubator space, but it’s almost entirely used up,” he says. “There’s a waiting list for more of that space, so we’ve got to figure out a way to get more of that, and space for these incubator startup companies once they start growing, for them to expand into. We just don’t have enough inventory locally to meet those needs.”

And that’s why Durham-born startups look outside of Bull City. If we’re lucky, they migrate elsewhere in the Triangle, maintaining that regional buzz, he says. If we’re not? Silicon Valley, Boston, San Francisco and other clusters come calling.

“The companies we are attracting downtown in particular, and the employees we’re attracting want to be close to the downtown area,” Bonfield says.

The problem? There just aren’t enough places for those entrepreneurs to live downtown. It’s a problem the town and developers are addressing, he says.

“It’s timing,” he notes, adding that between 1,5000 and 2,000 residential units are currently in various stages of construction within a mile of the center of downtown. “I feel pretty optimistic that that’s going to take care of itself.”

He says that, in a year to 18 months, downtown units will double, and that density will contribute to Durham’s buzz.

Bonfield still remembers the feeling of excitement about five years ago when considering Durham and its possibilities. “Looking back now, it’s exciting to see some of them come to fruition,” he says, pointing to downtown’s ongoing transformation as the most notable.

Durham has solidified itself as his home, at least as long as it will have him, he says. “I would very much hope to be here for quite awhile. I have no thoughts necessarily about going anywhere but here.”